Google Scholar Scraper

A skill for ethically collecting bibliometric data from Google Scholar, including search results, citation counts, author profiles, and related articles. Covers rate limiting, CAPTCHA avoidance, alternative APIs, legal considerations, data parsing, and practical workflows that balance data needs with responsible access.

Legal and Ethical Considerations

Before You Scrape

Google Scholar does not offer an official API, and its Terms of Service restrict automated access. Researchers must weigh their data needs against legal and ethical constraints.

Legal landscape:

Terms of Service:
  - Google's ToS prohibit automated queries
  - Violation can result in IP blocking (temporary or permanent)
  - Institutional IPs can be blocked, affecting all campus users
  - In some jurisdictions, ToS violations are not legally binding
    for non-commercial academic research, but this is debated